Bottled Up By: Suzanne Barston

Bottled Up looks at one mom’s experience with breastfeeding and the guilt associated with having to bottle feed. While discussing medical research, expert opinions and popular beliefs, Suzanne Barton simply asks for compassion and support for those moms who bottle feed rather than being bullied or shunned. ~ Steph

As the breast vs. bottle feeding debate heats up, some experts believe breastfeeding advocates have gone too far. While breast is certainly best from a nutritional standpoint, thousands of mothers find themselves unable to breastfeed for physiological, emotional, or situational reasons. Once breastfeeding has “failed”, they are unable to find the support they need, and some are even feeling shunned or bullied. Suzanne Barston, journalist and creator of the popular The Fearless Formula Feeder blog, understands the debate on a level most don’t because she has engaged in the conversation on BOTH sides for nearly four years. Barston’s new book BOTTLED UP: How The Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, And Why It Shouldn’t (University of California Press, October 2012), probes breastfeeding politics through the lens of Barston’s own experiences as well as those of the women she has met through her blog. Incorporating medical literature, expert opinions, and popular media, Barston offers a corrective to our infatuation with the breast. Impassioned, well-reasoned, and thoroughly researched, Bottled Up asks us to think with more nuance and compassion about whether breastfeeding should remain the holy grail of good parenthood.